Val grew up in Chicago where she rode her bike to the library to check out mysteries. After law school, the opportunity to practice criminal defense gave her first-hand experience with wrongful verdicts, pathological liars and unsolved homicides. All of these themes are woven together in her novel, Judicious Murder. In the course of representing the unjustly accused for more than twenty years in Oregon and Illinois, she learned that the true story often originates from the darkest chamber of the soul.

When she’s not writing she’s biking around Portland, Oregon, hiking in the Columbia River Gorge or swimming. Fur, the feline in Judicious Murder, is modeled after Izzy. At the shelter, Izzy had a red “x” on her cage which meant it was to be her last day on the planet. That was sixteen years ago. She and Val have lived happily together since.

Valerie’s been published in Oregon Coast Magazine and took first place in the Portland Japanese Garden writing contest. She’s a member of Willamette Writers where she served as secretary for two years.